1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a packaging filler, which is formed by cutting off and foaming small pieces of extruded plastic.
2. Prior Art
Packaging fillers of this kind and of various shapes, known as loose fill chips, are known. Attempts to meet a number of different, sometimes contradictory demands as optimally as possible and all at the same time have been tried, such as: very lightweight fillers so that it is possible to fill large voids with relatively little weight; and sturdy fillers, that is, fillers that do not break when subjected to pressure and jarring. Quite the contrary, they should elastically absorb strains. The shape should also be embodied such that the material does not "settle" during transport; in other words, the fillers should "catch" onto one another as much as possible in a fixed position relative to one another when poured into a void, so that they do not change their relative position to one another, even under pressure and if jarred, and thus the volume filled with them or into which they have been poured remains reliably fully filled.
Known fillers include bodies of spherical segment shape (German Patent Document 23 59 064 C2), saddle-shaped articles (U.S. Re 27 243), small rods of circular or four-leaf-clover-shaped cross section (German Patent Document A 19 14 236), hook-shaped articles (U.S. Pat. No. 3,066,382), star-shaped (U.S. Pat. No. 3,188,264), gable-shaped and zig zag-shaped profiles (U.S. 500,586), pieces in the form of a saucer with an inwardly bent rim French Patent 24 82 930), articles having a FIG. eight cross section Patent Document 23 04 093 C), to mention a few.
However, none of these shapes is optimal for its particular intended application.